{"id":776,"date":"2017-09-24T21:13:01","date_gmt":"2017-09-24T21:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/?p=776"},"modified":"2017-10-02T22:32:29","modified_gmt":"2017-10-02T22:32:29","slug":"5307th-composite-unit-provisional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/index.php\/2017\/09\/24\/5307th-composite-unit-provisional\/","title":{"rendered":"5307th Composite Unit (Provisional)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Merrill\u2019s Marauders<\/strong> (named after Frank Merrill) or Unit Galahad<\/em>, officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional)<\/strong>, was a United States Army long range penetration special operations jungle warfare unit, which fought in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, or China-Burma-India Theater (CBI).<\/p>\n

Three battalion of American infantrymen (approximately 3,000) marched and fought across 750 miles of northern Burma.  In slightly more than five months of combat, the Marauders had advanced 750 miles (1,210 km) through some of the harshest jungle terrain in the world, fought in five major engagements (Walawbum, Shaduzup, Inkangahtawng, Nhpum Ga, and Myitkyina) and engaged in combat with the Japanese Army on thirty-two separate occasions, including two conventional defensive battles with enemy forces for which the force had not been intended nor equipped. Battling Japanese soldiers, hunger, fevers, and disease, they had traversed more jungle terrain on their long-range missions than any other U.S. Army formation during World War II.<\/p>\n

The men of the Merrill’s Marauders enjoyed the rare distinction of having each soldier awarded the Bronze Star. In June 1944, the 5307th Composite Unit (provisional) was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation:<\/p>\n

The unit must display such gallantry, determination, and<\/em> esprit de corps in accomplishing its mission under extremely difficult and hazardous conditions as to set it apart and above other units participating in the same campaign<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(source for above is Wikipedia.org)<\/p>\n

______________________________  <\/strong><\/p>\n

Regiment of Volunteers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where the Jap has placed his outposts,
\nWhere his road-blocks guard the trail,
\nWhere the lone patrol is moving,
\nAs the dark begins to pale;
\nThere’s a wisper through the jungle,
\nThere are shadows on the tracks,
\nAnd the sentry wheels to fire
\nWhen a twig behind him cracks.<\/p>\n

For Merrill’s men are marching;
\nThey’ve been seen at Masakawng;
\nThey have crossed the Tanai River,
\nAnd they’re threatening Warong.
\nJungle trails are close and silent;
\nMerrill’s troops move swift and far;
\nThey may pass today through Sharaw
\nAnd tomorrow through Sana.<\/p>\n

Tokyo has maps of Burma
\nThat will show whence they have come.
\nSee that red line down the Hukawng,
\nSee the cross at Walawbum?
\nThere’s another at Shaduzup,
\nAnd below, Inkangahtawng.
\nThe Marauders’ roll of victories
\nIs both barbarous and long.<\/p>\n

From Nhpum Ga on to Ritpong,
\n(Add a cross at each of these)
\nRed lines lead to Myitkyina–
\nJust you ask the Japanese.
\nStealthy files that strike and vanish,
\nNo one knows where they may be.
\nTill the Browning automatics
\nLeave dead Japs for Japs to see.<\/p>\n

But if you want to see us,
\nThere’s a way you can’t go wrong.
\nPick a trail that goes behind them
\nWhere our enemies are strong.
\nWhere the trail goes through a rice field
\nYou may see the column clear;
\nBut–we’re not so much to look at,
\nAnd we’re worse than that to hear.<\/p>\n

Comes a line of weary scarecrows,
\nBearded, pale, unclean, and hot.
\nNever would you think of soldiers,
\n(Which we wish that we were not).
\n“Damn the mountains” How we curse them!
\n“Damn the food\u201d or what there is.
\n“Damn the mules, and General Stilwell.\u201d
\n“God, we wish our feet were his!”<\/p>\n

Well, it’s true, and it’s because
\nEveryone had reasons why he
\nDid not like it where he was.
\nWe’re the misfits of the Army
\nThat the system can’t digest;
\nThere’s but one way to control us,
\nAnd it’s not to let us rest<\/p>\n

Doctors, farmers, drunkards, failures,
\nThere’s no trait we share but one;
\nWe have to butt our heads into those
\nThings that aren’t or can’t be done.
\n“Put ’em on . . . The column’s moving!”
\nCome on, then, you’re not yet dead.
\nAnd there’s fighting left a-plenty
\nWhile the trail still leads ahead.<\/p>\n

Let the fevers try to stop us;
\nWe’ve got dysentery now;
\nStill we’ll keep the column rolling,
\nThough we could not say just how.
\nHalf a thousand miles we’ve walked,
\nOver hills in rain and heat,
\nAnd the marches all have measured
\nThat much more of Jap retreat.<\/p>\n

For Merrill’s men are marching;
\nWe have come both fast and far,
\nAnd we’ve opened northern Burma
\nFrom Maingkan to Myitkyina;
\nAnd there’ll be no final halting
\n(So we fear it’s bound to be)
\nTill the last mule’s legs have buckled
\nOr we’ve reached the China Sea.<\/p>\n

By: 2Lt. CHARLTON OGBURN JR.<\/p>\n

5307th<\/sup> Composite Unit (Provisional)<\/p>\n

Merrill’s Marauders
\n1st Battalion
\nWhite Combat Team
\nBurma 1944  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Merrill\u2019s Marauders (named after Frank Merrill) or Unit Galahad, officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), was a United States Army long range penetration special operations jungle warfare unit, which fought in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, or China-Burma-India Theater (CBI). Three battalion of American infantrymen (approximately 3,000) marched and fought across 750 miles of northern Burma.  In slightly more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776\/revisions\/777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpost801.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}